Do not Refuse Him who Speaks
Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. (NKJV)
The early Eastern Church (Dionysius and Clement, both of Alexandria), from the second century, claimed Paul was the writer of Hebrews. The Western Church later agreed.
Luke translated the letter to the Hebrews into Greek, according to Clement in the second century. Luke was with Paul during his second Roman imprisonment and was his amanuensis during Paul’s final days (2 Timothy 4:11).
It is likely that Luke was also Paul’s amanuensis for this letter. My conclusion is that this was Paul’s last writing, written in late 67-early 68 A.D.
In this letter, Paul is writing to Hebrews who have converted to Christianity from Judaism. Family and friends are likely pressuring them to return to Judaism, so Paul is writing to these Hebrew Christians to encourage them to remain steadfast in their faith and not to return to Judaism.
The book of Hebrews is divided into two main topics Through Hebrews 10:18 the topic is the superiority of Christ to Judaism. The rest of the book is devoted to exhortations to obedient living, a fitting conclusion to Paul’s writings.
Initially, in this second topic, Paul gave examples of great men and women of faith who were honored for their obedient living. Now, he turns to exhorting Christians to obedient living.
In this passage, Paul concludes his warning, which began in verse fifteen, to not miss out on salvation. This warning was to the first century Hebrew Christians, but applies also to all people today. Paul was attempting to discourage the Hebrew Christians from returning to Judaism.
Previously he proclaimed the Old Covenant Law of Moses to be a covenant of fear and judgment. Next, he proclaimed the New Covenant of Jesus Christ to be a covenant of grace and blessings. In so doing, he contrasted the Law of Moses with the grace of Christ.
Now he completes the warning with a call to not refuse Him who speaks. God spoke His revelation of the Old Covenant from the fire and smoke of Mount Sinai. He spoke his revelation of the New Covenant through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Paul begins this passage by writing His warning to not miss out on salvation is made clear with the words “See that you do not refuse Him who speaks” (v. 25a). The same God gave both covenants. The writer is warning not to refuse this God.
Paul continues with “For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth” (v. 25b) Those under the Law did not escape when they refused God, who warned them on earth.
God spoke from earth, from Mount Sinai, the Law. Those who disobeyed the Law did not escape the judgment of God.
Paul completes this verse with “much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven” (v. 25c). The literal Greek for this verse is: “Much rather we, those turning away from Heaven.”
Paul is saying that those who reject Christ will be less able to escape judgment than those who disobey the Law. Judgment is more certain for those who reject the grace of God than for those who disobey the Law. We may not be able to obey the commandments of God, but it is worse to reject His grace which covers those sins.
Paul writes “whose voice then shook the earth” (v. 26a). God’s voice from Mount Sinai “shook the earth”.
Paul contrasts that with “but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven" (v. 26b). God promises, from Heaven, that once more He will shake the earth, but now He will also shake the heavens, for those who refuse His grace.
This is a reference to Haggai 2:6: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.’” God caused an earthquake (Ex 19:18) on Mount Sinai. He will cause shaking of not only the earth, but also of the heavens at Armageddon (Rev. 16:16-21).
Next, Paul writes “Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain” (v. 27). So, created things, the heavens and Earth, will be removed, but the Kingdom of God, “which cannot be shaken” will remain.
Paul writes “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (v. 28). The Kingdom of God cannot be shaken.
It will remain. It is everlasting. So, as Christians, we should be thankful and we should worship and serve God with reverence and awe.
Paul concludes this chapter, and this warning to not miss out on salvation, by writing “For our God is a consuming fire” (v. 29). He is a consuming fire for those who reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
They will spend eternity in the fires of Hell. We are reminded here that the judgment of God is worse for those who reject His grace, than those who are under the Law.
But for those who accept Christ, theirs is the Kingdom of God. It cannot be shaken.
All created things will disappear, but the Kingdom of God will remain forever. It is our reward for staying faithful to the God of the Bible, the God of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
He speaks to all of us all of the time. He pleads with us to come to Him.
He pleads with us to not miss out on salvation. See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks.
Art Toombs Ministries
Online Bible Commentary